US Embassy

Sunday ended up being one of the best days. That morning after I did my laundry I met up with my fellow Huascaran people at Lindsey’s house. We invited numerous kids from the neighborhood over and practiced community mapping with them. It was pretty fun and we all learned some do’s and don’ts. Now that I think about it, I guess I should explain community mapping.
Community mapping is a technique I will use at site with kids or adolescents to get a better understanding of my community. I will grab some markers and a giant sheet of paper and split the boys in one group and girls in the other. I will just ask them to draw/design a map of their neighborhood. What I learn from this is not only what types of places are in my neighborhood, but what the girls focus on that the boys don’t and vice versa. For instance, girls are more likely to drop out of school here and therefore may not really know where the school is. Boys on the other hand may know where the school is, but maybe they don’t know certain markets. It’s a good tool to use to get to know the kids, community and see what needs might need to be met.
Later that afternoon I met up with Rigel and we hung out in the park for a few hours listening to music. While in the park, Felix and his girlfriend, who is German, dropped by and we all decided to go met up with some of their other friends at this fancy Italian restaurant. (Felix and his girlfriend and brother were at Aquicito last night as well). At the restaurant there was a girl in from Chile and she had brought some wine with her. Our table was representing the world! We had a girl from Chile, a girl from Germany, I was from the USA, a girl from Peru and then 3 guys from Peru. It was amazing. We all had wine and some amazing pizza and just enjoyed the evening. After eating we all went to the lounge that is close by and shared some more drinks, but it was getting late so Rigel walked me home.
When I got home my parents were returning from a birthday party. They were good and toasty to say the least so we all sat around and laughed and hung out. When my dad drinks he looooves to speak some English. He even turned the tv to CNN English just for me.
Today I went to the US Embassy with the whole group. We were introduced to people who deal with our security and also had a few classes on how to teach English in Peru. Then we had a meeting with the US Ambassador here. She is super sweet and plans to come to visit us at our sites. She also gave hope that Clinton or Obama may be making a visit next summer after the new President of Peru is elected. I would die if I could meet Obama. It’s funny how all of us volunteers are GIANT Obama fans.
We all went to lunch at the restaurant down the road and they served us giant pieces of chicken with fries, salads and Inca Cola. It was the best big meal I have had in a while. After lunch we had a meeting about our safety and security while in Peru. The session gave us information on different types of emergency evacuation plans or just any type of emergency plan. I even received the personal phone emergency phone number to the Marines if “I get into some deep shit,” as they put it.
Tomorrow I head to Ancash until Sunday!!